Spikes
Spikes are among one of the simplest and most versatile weapons used in Robot Wars. They were especially prevalent in earlier series, with Series 1 competitors Nemesis, Prince of Darkness, REALI-T, Shogun, SAT'arn and Wharthog among the first to be fitted with such weapons. The most successful competitors to have spikes as part of their weapons include Series 6 champion Tornado, Third World Champion Storm 2 and US Season 2 Grand Finalists Rocky-Bot-Boa and Tricerabot. Definition *A spike is a pointed weapon fixed to a robot which is intended to ram, pierce and puncture other robots' armour and wheels. They can exist in various forms, ranging from short sharp points to spike traps and even shortened spears, and can be fitted to any part of the robots' chassis and/or armour. Additionally, spikes were often used as extra attachments for certain weapons, including Wild Thing's lifting arm in Series 4 and the axes of Dominator 2 and Kat 3, the latter with the intention of enabling their self-righting capabilities. For convenience, those types of spikes are excluded from this list. Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages *Spikes are light, affordable and easy to attach to a robot. *They can be fixed anywhere on a robot's chassis or armour, considerably improving its defensive potential. *Their affordability and light weight can allow for improvements to other aspects of the robot, such as stronger armour and more drive power. Tornado, Das Gepäck, Tricerabot and Storm 2 all benefited from excellent pushing power received from heavier and more powerful drive motors, a strength inherited from their adoption of simpler and lighter spike weapons. *They could cause damage to other robots' armour depending on their design and especially when combined with strong pushing power.Tornado's chassis-mounted spikes were equally able to hold opponents in place as well as piercing holes through their armour and wheels, as was Mr Nasty's larger front spike against Maximus' side in the Extreme 2 New Blood Championship. *Their shorter length circumvented the manoeuvrability problems faced with spears, as they made robots less liable to getting impaled through opponents, arena hazards or the wall. Disadvantages *They did not offer much offensive potential compared to retractable spikes or spears, putting most robots equipped with them at a major disadvantage on damage. The majority of Velocirippa's losses, as well as Mighty Mouse's loss to Thermidor 2 in Series 7 and Tornado's loss to Chaos 2 in Series 4, were all attributed to their spike weapons not being as effective or potent as their opponents'. *While less liable to being broken off than spears, they could still be easily damaged upon contact with other weapons. Das Gepäck notably had one of its front spikes ripped off by Fluffy's spinning blade during the final of the UK vs Germany special. *As they were not considered to be active weapons, static spikes could not be used as a robot's primary weapon from Series 7 onward. This resulted in robots such as Mighty Mouse and Storm 2 adopting moving weapons to cohere with the new rule. List of Robots with Spikes Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots that are not heavyweights are listed with a green background. Category:Weapon Types Category:Robots with Spikes